This Time Around
by ms.miska
Summary: Tag for "The Seed". Treatment for Jennifer's nightmares. McKeller all the way.


Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate

Spoilers: The Seed

A/N: I have to apologize for any mistakes that are in the story (and I believe there are many, I just can't see them), English is not my first language. I had a hard time finding good beta reader so I finally gave up and I'm posting the story as it is. Thank you for taking your time and reading it!

* * *

Atlantis was always so quiet at this hour. It almost seemed like no one cared whether the city was properly taken care of, mused Rodney as he walked through the empty halls of this marvelous city. He always stayed up late. There was just so much to do and the day was way too short.

Unfortunately his work was interrupted by threateningly big cut on his hand that he had got when he was trying to move some cables around to get more power to the most needed places. He looked at his hand and examined the wound. Okay maybe it wasn't so bad. The scratch was about an inch long and the only way to find blood in there was with a magnifier. But it needed to be properly cleaned right? He nodded his head to himself. Better safe than sorry. Plus Sheppard wasn't there to tease him about it so he went right to the infirmary.

He didn't expect to find Jennifer in there. Especially sleeping with her head pillowed on her desk. She was supposed to have couple days off after the surgery but there she was, sleeping soundly in this most uncomfortable position. He also noticed she wasn't wearing her uniform but casual T-shirt with long sleeves and he supposed sweat pants or something like that. It was kinda hard to see through the table. Her hair was loose and partially covering her face.

He was trying to decide what to do. Leave and let her sleep like that knowing her body is going to pay her back for it tomorrow or wake her up and make a fool of himself while trying to get her to her own room and get some sleep?

His problem was solved when she stirred, seconds later her head came right up with a loud breath intake. He jumped up with her, startled by her sudden movement. She looked at her arms like they weren't part of her body and lightly touched both of them. She must've caught his form standing in the doorway because she looked at him with wide eyes. He wasn't very happy about the look on her face. Her eyes were clouded with panic and she seemed confused. She glanced at her arms one more time and back at him, finally calming down and fully recognizing him.

"Hey, what's up?" She asked, forcing a smile on her face.

"Uhm.. I, I was in the neighborhood and, and.. I saw a light coming from here so.." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, you okay?" He asked.

Jennifer sat up straight and put her hair behind her ears. "Yeah, great!" She mentally rolled her eyes. That was convincing as hell.

Rodney finally walked into the room and stopped about five feet from the table. He didn't say a word but the expression on his face said there is no way for her to hide the truth from him. Funny, she never saw this much determination in him before. Truth to be told they had spent significant amount of time together since she had asked him out for a beer and they had talked a lot but he still seemed nervous when he was alone with her. That wasn't the case now. He wanted to know what was going on and she was in no condition to hide it from him. She was simply too tired.

"Okay, it's nothing really. I'm just having trouble sleeping." She shrugged and closed a laptop that was sitting on the table in front of her.

"Trouble sleeping?" He asked and folded his hands behind his back, forgetting about his injury.

"Woolsey told me to take couple days off and get some rest but I find it really hard to do. Every time I close my eyes I see all these, these… things coming out of me and it's.." She took a deep breath. "It's like I'm trapped when I'm in my room, lying in my bed, covered with my blanket. Like it's happening all over again." She shook her head.

"I.. I'm sorry to hear that." He said and sounded so sincere she wanted to get up and hug him to pieces. Of course she knew that would freak him out and he would probably avoided her for the rest of his life.

She waved her hand absently. "That's okay, I'll be fine. Don't worry." She smiled.

Rodney stood there for a while, apparently deep in thought. All of the sudden he snapped his fingers. "I got it!" He turned around and briskly walked out of the infirmary, leaving Jennifer staring after him totally confused.

No more than five seconds later he was back, frowning. "Uhh.. It would be great if you could, umm, come with me.."

Jennifer just stood up, smile creeping up her face and joined him. He said nothing on the way to wherever he was taking her. She was getting more and more curious. She wasn't particularly paying attention to the way they were going but she was positive she had never been to this part of the city. As far as she knew the only reason why someone would come here was for necessary maintenance. What was he going to show her? Piece of technology? He knew she was interested in his work but that was more like asking about his day, she did not need detailed explanation of what he was doing.

"We're here!" He said proudly.

She looked around and at him with raised eyebrow. "Where exactly is 'here'?" They were at the end of some hallway, there was a door, but the light was off and she supposed it wasn't in working order. No strange devices, nothing.

He smiled a little and went to the console that controlled the door, opened it up and moved some wires around. Soon enough the console lit up and the door opened.

"Nice!" She smiled back and walked through the doorframe. She was standing on one of the many balconies in the city. But the weirdest thing was the stuff that was lying around. There was a chair, tiny table and a hammock? She turned around to look at him and just pointed at the thing. She was out of words.

"That's a hammock." He stated dryly.

"I know what it is. But what is it doing here? And what is this place?"

"My hide out." He said triumphaly, scanning the area for any signs of intrusion. Finding none he relaxed and gently pushed her forward, guiding her to the object hanging down from the covered part of the balcony.

Jennifer still seemed unsure about the situation, she stopped as soon as Rodney removed his hand from her back. He just sighed, walked past her and grabbed a blanket and a small pillow that was inside the hammock.

"Are you gonna stand there for the rest of the night?"

"Is there something else I'm supposed to do?" Jennifer asked with a hint of laughter in her voice.

"Well you can get inside." He told her. She still looked skeptical. "What I mean is that, that.. When I was a kid and I felt like there is too much pressure on me I would go outside to our backyard and get inside one of these.." He pointed at the hammock. "and clear my head. No one bothered me and it really helped. So I thought it may help to clear your head too. I understand we are totally different and what had worked for me doesn't have to work for you too. Uhm…not that you are different in bad way. I wouldn't change anything about you.."

It was dark but Jennifer could clearly see red color creeping up Rodney's face. She smiled. She was with him for about fifteen minutes and she already felt much better. There was something about Rodney that made her feel relaxed.

"Not that I want to imply that other people would change something about you. You are great, you make a great impression and, and..."

"Rodney.." Jennifer said and finally got him out of his misery.

"I'm sorry." He apologized. "I get nervous when I.." He took a deep breath, this time not continuing. "Anyway, what I wanted to say is, you want to try it out?" He offered.

She gave him one of her smiles that melted his heart and with a little effort she climbed in. Rodney managed to cover her with the blanket, rather clumsily, and pushed her a little so she was swinging lightly. She closed her eyes and exhaled contently.

"This is nice." She admitted. "Now tell me, how in world did you get this in here?"

He sat on the chair keeping his eyes on her. "Jeanie sent it over to me. We were talking one day and she told me I looked tired and that I needed to relax. I laughed at her, told her I don't have time for that and when I do, there is always someone who bothers me. She felt silent for a while and then she was grinning like an idiot and saying that she has the right idea. The next time we had a delivery from Earth I had a package from her with a hammock inside and a note that I needed to find the right spot for it. It explicitly said my lab wasn't the option. So I did a little bit of searching and found this. As you might have guessed there is not much traffic going on plus I keep the door locked." He finished his speech and shrugged.

Jennifer twisted her head to look at him. "Okay, I understand one thing, but why hammock? This has to have some interesting story behind." She grinned and put her head back on the pillow.

He made a face. "Not that interesting. You see, my sister and I are 12 years apart and there were times when she wanted to play all kinds of weird games like house or dress up or dolls or, or, or I don't know. Whatever else little kids play. I was too busy with school and stuff, I was pretty smart even back then and there was no time for this. And she always tried to put me into one of the dresses she got and it was way too big for her. Some kind of a princess. Can you imagine a sixteen-year-old wearing blue dress six sizes too small? What was the name of the princess? I know I read the story to Jeanie's kid last time I was there.."

"You mean Cinderella?" Tried Jennifer, hardly keeping her voice straight. She hoped there was a picture of him wearing that.

He snapped his fingers. "That's the one!" He exclaimed. "Anyway we had this hammock in our backyard and every time I saw Jeanie running to me with the dress in her hands I took my stuff and went outside. She never bothered me there. She was scared of hammocks. She was swinging in one once and flipped over. She almost broke her nose. I threatened her that I'll put her in it and she will hurt herself again."

"Rodney!" Jennifer scolded him.

"Well it worked! From then on every time I needed some time for myself I would go out there and relax. I remember my sister pleading our dad one time to put a hammock in the garage when the winter came and it was too cold to go outside. She said I was snappy or something like that. I don't know. She was very unreasonable when she was a kid. She still is, sometimes." He finished and fell silent.

"I don't have any brothers or sisters." Jennifer confessed. "Truth to be told I never wanted siblings. I had all the attention from my parents and that was just fine with me. When my mom died it was just my dad and I. Now I regret not having a brother or sister. With me gone, my dad is home all alone."

"I'm sorry." Rodney said and meant it.

"Yeah, well all of us left our families behind." She yawned. "Now, tell me, do you happen to have a picture of you in Cinderella dress?" She smiled and looked at him again to see his reaction.

He rolled his eyes and nodded his head a little. "As a matter of fact my sister has one. She said she'll show it to everyone we know next time I upset her. Like it's not enough she calls me Meredith in public." He rolled his eyes one more time.

Jennifer lay back and giggled. She doubted anyone got to see this side of Rodney. He talked a lot, yes, but always about some work he was doing. She felt sudden urge to know more about this man that everyone took for granted.

"Were you close to your sister?" She asked while getting to more comfortable position on her side.

Rodney started to talk about his family and Jennifer found herself drifting off to sleep. She wasn't sure she caught all of his story, his voice was like a magical spell that put her at ease and helped her sleep. When he was finished she was barely awake.

"Rodney," She whispered. "thank you."

"Anytime." He whispered back and watched as sleep overcame her.

Rodney looked under the table and got out a tablet that was hidden in there. One had to be always prepared. Jennifer was sound asleep so he felt safe doing some of his work. There was no way for him to go to sleep with his favorite doctor there and the chair wasn't very comfortable anyway.

Normally, nothing could get his attention away from his computer or tablet but when Jennifer got a little restless he became alert. It looked like she was having a bad dream and he started to panic. He wasn't accustomed to dealing with people having nightmares. He put the tablet down and stood up. He looked down at her and felt totally useless. He was afraid to do anything at all. The last thing he wanted to do was to scare her off. He tried to remember what his mother used to do when he or Jeanie were having nightmares. He sighed. He couldn't remember him having one and he had never paid much attention to his little sister.

He felt adventurous and lifted one of his arms and with trembling hand touched her hair. It was soft like he had imagined it would be and he ran his fingers through the whole length. There was no reaction from Jennifer and he felt safe enough to do it again. He had no idea how long he stood there but some time later he realized Jen was sleeping peacefully again. He watched her for a while, noticing how tiny she looked and how her face had no trace of fear that was there for last couple of days. Finally he was able to get his eyes off her. He gently pushed her and went back to his chair. The rest of the night was uneventful.

OoOoOoO

Rodney was intently staring at the small screen when simple "Hi." nearly sent it flying. He looked at the source and managed a small smile. "Hey."

Jennifer stretched and pushed her hair from her face. She felt great. She couldn't remember last time she slept that good. Maybe it was the fresh air maybe her companion. The sun, though, was an enemy. She liked to sleep in the dark but in here she had sun shining right into her eyes.

"Slept well?" Rodney asked standing up and walking towards the railing. He rested his weight on it and watched Jennifer get up.

"I did, actually. I was never into this stuff, like going camping, sleeping outside but this was great." She carefully climbed down and straightened her hair and shirt. "I don't suppose you got any sleep, right?" She eyed him.

"No, but I'm not tired." He assured her.

She just lifted one of her eyebrows and tilted her head a little.

He got the point. "Okay, maybe just a tiny bit but I've been without sleep for much longer than this without any problems. I didn't want to wake you up. The whole point of going here was for you to get some sleep. And you looked so relaxed.." He cleared his throat. She was coming closer to him and he suddenly felt very uncomfortable, "Not that I was watching, that would be creepy. It's just you.."

Jennifer touched his arm to silence him. "Rodney, relax." She told him. "This was really a thoughtful gesture. I appreciate it. I don't remember anyone being this nice to me. Ever."

Rodney's heart was beating rapidly due to her proximity and he felt heat creeping up his arm from where she touched it. He wished there was an open space behind him so he could've stepped back a little. Jennifer was well aware of his discomfort but did nothing to ease it up. She, in fact, did the complete opposite. It was time for her to make the first step, Rodney seemed to be opening up a little and she felt safe enough to jump at the opportunity. She leaned forward and gave him a light kiss on the lips. He was totally stunned by her action, he was holding the railing like it was the only thing keeping him alive and his face showed complete shock. Now his lips burned as well..

"Wh.. what are you doing?" He demanded.

"Uhm.. Kissing you?" She smiled.

She was still too close to him. He was sure his back is going to bruise from all that pushing he was doing. "Why?" He managed to say.

"Well I wanted to express my gratitude and this seemed like the best idea. And you should be flattered because I don't usually go around and kiss people." She grinned.

"I am, really, I.."

She firmly grabbed both of his arms which got his attention before he had a chance to start his rambling. "Rodney, listen to me. Loosen up, please. I'm not going to hurt you. Why are you so tense?"

"I told you before, I'm not very good at this. I don't want to make a fool of myself. Uhm.. Like I'm doing now. I, I don't want you to think that I'm.. I don't know. I'm no Sheppard I don't prance around women like I'm some kind of hero and they waited their whole life to meet me." He explained.

"Look, we talked a lot, even bickered sometimes, we had a fare share of meals together, we went out for a drink or two. Where did you get the idea that I would think any less of you?"

He sighed and shrugged. "I don't know. It's me being, well, me. That's what I do."

"I have to admit it is kind of cute but totally unnecessary. I like you just the way you are. There is no need to act differently." She assured him and squeezed his arms a little.

He nodded uncertainly. "Wait!" His head shot up. "You, you like me?"

"Oh, Rodney.." She leaned in and rewarded him with yet another kiss. This time she wasn't satisfied with just a light peck and deepened the kiss. It took Rodney a while but he responded with the same eagerness as Jennifer. She wrapped her arms around his neck and soon enough she felt Rodney's arms embracing her. She felt well rewarded for her persuasive behavior towards him because he was a great kisser. Women on Atlantis just lost a fine specimen because she wasn't letting him go any time soon. They slowly broke the contact, looking into each others eyes.

"Does that mean yes?" He asked hopefully.

She just shook her head and grabbed his arm, leading him towards the door. "Come on!"

"Where are we going?"

"Well I got my rest, now you need yours." She winked at him.

"And you are coming with me?"

"I'll keep you company. Just like you did for me."

He wasn't sure what that meant but followed her anyway. It was still early so they managed to reach his room without meeting anyone, Rodney was very pleased for that. He wasn't sure he was in condition to deal with people giving them strange looks. Jennifer pushed him inside his room and closed the door. She walked towards his bed, took her boots and jacket off, sat down and propped her back against the wall.

"I don't get it." He said.

"I'm positive you wouldn't go to bed if I told you so I'm gonna make sure you'll get the sleep you need. Now, get yourself ready." He wasn't convinced. "Or should I help you undress?" She winked and smiled.

His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets but eventually he shook his head no. He removed his jacket and boots and made his way towards her.

"You sleep with you pants on?" She amusedly pointed out.

"Uhm.. Not really, no."

"Take them off then." She ordered.

He suddenly felt like a new animal in the zoo with her piercing gaze following his every movement. "I.. Are you sure?"

"Is there something I'm not allowed to see? Plus I'm your doctor. I've seen you in your underwear before."

"This is different." He stated.

"Maybe so but I'm gonna see everything sooner or later. You can bet on that. Now, pants off!"

His cheeks were burning hot but he finally complied, taking his time with belt, button and zipper. He nearly fell while taking one of his legs out of the pants, only adding to his embarrassment. Finally he walked to his bed and sat on the other side, next to Jennifer, getting ready to lie down.

"Oh, one more thing." She interrupted him, taking his radio out of his ear.

"What if.."

"No what if's. I'll be picking up for next six to eight hours." She patted her legs. "Now lie down."

He raised no further complains and awkwardly rested his head on the spot she had picked for him. He had to admit her legs felt much better than his pillow. As soon as he put his head down she started to massage his scalp, easing up the tension. He immediately shut his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of her fingers in his hair.

"My mom used to do it when I was a kid and she wanted to help me sleep." She explained. "It worked like a charm every time."

"I did it." He confessed.

"Did what?"

He opened his eyes and turned his head a little to see her face. "This.. hair thing. To you. Last night. You were having a nightmare. I had no idea what to do and I tried this. I don't know if it helped but you didn't wake up." He was suddenly afraid of her reaction, not knowing how she's going to respond to his intrusion.

She gave him another heart-melting smile, leaned down and gave him light kiss on his temple. "Thank you." She whispered.

He smiled back and closed his eyes. "You are welcome." Maybe she was right about being less nervous. She seemed to be comfortable in his presence and he felt better knowing he won't scare her off by his oddness. He still didn't know why a woman like Jennifer would willingly go out with him but that can be cleared out later. Right now he felt too good and too tired to think about anything.

OoOoOoO

John was about to start his morning work-out when Zelenka walked into the room calling his name.

"What's the matter, Radek?" He asked the scientist and put his weights down.

"I just wanted to ask you whether you saw Dr. McKay today."

"Not really. Something the matter?"

The Czech frowned. "McKay was trying to use power from some inactive systems and I wanted to go over the data with him. I thought he left to get some food or coffee, his laptop was on but he was nowhere near commissary today."

"Let's call him up." Sheppard suggested and tapped his radio.

Zelenka watched as John requested McKay to answer the radio. As soon as he got his answer his eyebrows shot up and he grinned like an idiot. There was no point interrupting so he just listened to Sheppard's side of conversation.

"Oh, Zelenka is looking for him… No I don't think so… Okay, whatever you say. I'll call if something comes up. Sheppard out." He clearly had hard time keeping his face straight, Zelenka observed.

"So?" He was very interested in the source of Sheppard's amusement.

"You can talk to McKay in four to six hours when he is well rested." John informed him and picked up his weights. "Apparently the doctor thinks he needs some good night sleep and ordered him the morning off."

"What doctor?"

"Dr. Keller. She has his radio. By the way, I wouldn't go to his room. She is in there."

Zelenka's mouth fell open. It took him about a minute to recover and say something Sheppard didn't understand and frankly wasn't that interested in. He was probably thinking the same thing anyway, only in English. Zelenka nodded his head and without another word turned around and left the gym.

John started with his exercise, the grin never leaving his face. Maybe this time around, things won't get as tragic for McKay as they did before they fixed the future.

The End


End file.
